The three requirements of the duty

The duty contains three requirements that apply in situations where a disabled person would otherwise be placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who are not disabled.

The first requirement involves changing the way things are done (equality law talks about where the disabled job worker is put at a substantial disadvantage by a provision, criterion or practice of their employer).

For example:

An employer has a policy that designated car parking spaces are only offered to senior managers. A worker who is not a manager, but has a mobility impairment and needs to park very close to the office, is given a designated car parking space. This is likely to be a reasonable adjustment to the employer's car parking policy.

The second requirement involves making changes to overcome barriers created by the physical features of a workplace.

For example:

Clear glass doors at the end of a corridor in a particular workplace present a hazard for a visually impaired worker. Adding stick-on signs or other indicators to the doors so that they become more visible is likely to be a reasonable adjustment for the employer to make.

The third requirement involves providing extra equipment (which equality law calls an auxiliary aid) or getting someone to do something to assist you (which equality law calls an auxiliary service).

For example:

An employer provides specialist software for a member of staff who develops a visual impairment and whose job involves using a computer.

Each of these requirements is looked at in more detail later in this part of the guide.